How NewTek Used a Social Media Hub to Drive Thought Leadership

By: Joe Braue –

How can marketers breakthrough the noise and drive thought leadership and awareness around a key technology initiative?

Donetta Colboch, VP of Marketing at NewTek, a leading video production system vendor, posed that challenge to TVTechnology and its marketing service arm, NewBay Plus, which I manage. Our answer was to create NDICentral, a social media hub where our editors curate the hottest posts about NDI, a new video over IP standard being driven by a number of leading players in the video and broadcasting space.

Using a social media curation platform, our edit teams pulls in tweets and other social media posts from media and entertainment business and technology leaders about NDI, as well as other issues surrounding the industry transition to IP. Since in 2017, any opinion leader will use social media to drive out their thinking, we can access the best content about video over IP in the world. The site is embedded in TVTechnology and Creative Planet Network. But you can also find it on NewTek’s site as well.

NewTek gets the benefit of cobranding on the site and in the large amount of promotion in regular email blasts as well as a widget on the home page of TVTechnology and Creative Planet Network.

We asked Donetta to describe her challenge and her decision to choose to work with us to build NDICentral:

What was NewTek’s key marketing need in relation to NDI?

Video production over IP is one of the biggest changes in our industry in decades. To help video producers understand and navigate this rapidly changing environment, our goal is to provide resources for objective, relevant, and timely information.

How did NDICentral serve that need?

NDICentral embodies the best of today’s media, both traditional and social. Using the NDICentral hashtag delivers the latest news directly to the site. Whether the contributors are the editorial team at NewBay, NewTek, third party developers, end users, analysts or other industry experts, the information is fresh, immediate and constantly updating.

What were its benefits to NewTek?

This is an important inflection point in the industry and NewTek plays a key role in the transition to IP-based workflows for video production. There are a lot of questions and a great deal to be learned. NDICentral provides that learning resource, positions NewTek as a thought leader, and comes with the benefit of having the expertise of the editorial team at NewBay curating the content.

Can you characterize any of the benefits/results so far?

The site went live a few days before IBC 2016. Since that time we have seen exponential growth in viewership, interaction and content contribution. NDI developers and users have a “go to” resource to share information and stories unlike any other in the industry. Without NDICentral many of these people would not have a voice.

What makes this program unique, in your long experience as a leading broadcasting industry marketing professional?

Today, by the time a prospect engages in a sales interaction, they are extremely well educated. As marketers it is our job to help provide that education. Content in all forms has become the cornerstone of an effective marketing program. At NewTek we have a massive website, blogs, videos, live webcasts, tours, events and trade shows, all in an effort to help educate our customers about our products. However, the industry transition to IP-based video production requires something beyond anything we can easily put in a typical advertising or content program.

We had to find a new approach. Fortunately, we have a longstanding relationship with NewBay. As we were developing our thoughts on how we could provide an industry resource that was relevant, objective and reached beyond the NewTek brand, it was obvious that NewBay held the key to success. They immediately grasped what we were trying to accomplish and came to us with a proposal within days. The site was launched within two weeks. Our collaboration provides a dynamic, important resource for the industry. NewTek can rest assured that the content is of the highest quality because the NewBay editorial team has oversight. Further, we benefit from all of the marketing and promotion muscle that NewBay offers. NDICentral is a unique approach to content marketing, but from my view it is absolutely the perfect complement to our strategy, and has delivered and continues to deliver exactly the results we wanted.